Manufacture of wall board



Nov. 19, '1 $29 C. PAYNE MANUFACTURE OF WALL BOARD Filed May 10 PatentedNov. 19, 1929 UNITED sr 'rEs PATENT OFFICE CALEB ram or CHICAGO, ILLNOIS, ASSIGNOR TO GYPSUM ENGINEERING a iIANU- r no'ronme 00., OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF IL INOIS mnmmcrunn or WALL BOARDApplication filed. May 10, 1926. Serial No. 107,854.

The object of this invention is to manufacture a wall board of superiorinsulating quality which is light inweight and strong and substantial instructure; and a further object is to provide a novel method for.

speedily and economically producing this wall board.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a novel wall board ofsuperior insulating quality having a body of cellular structure producedby foamaoeous material and having a suitable protective covering.

Another object of the invention is to form a continuous strip ofprotective material into '15 a trough which moves continuously as it isformed, in upright position and open at the top, pouring a material intothe trough to form the body of the board, this being prefer- V ably afoamaceous materialwhich oams as it is poured into the trough and fillsthe trough and produces a cellular body, allowing this body to setsufliciently to permit the board to be handled, and drying the boardthus formed. And a further object of the invention is to form the bodyof wall board in a trough of protective covering and then sealing theedge of the trough by depositing a sealing material therein. Theinvention has other objects inview incidental to the broad object ofmanufacturing a commercial wall board of superior quality in a simpleand economical manner, which will appear in the detail description of aselected embodiment of the invention as dia grammatically illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, referring to which Fig. 1 is a sectional viewof wall board made in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevation partly in section,

V 49 showing" diagrammatically an apparatus which may be employed formanufacturing wall board in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 3 is a similar view of additional apparatus which may be employed.for sealing the open side edge of the wall board.

Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional views on the lines 44 and 55 respectively ofFig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the board andmeans for protecting the raw side edge of the board.

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view.

I contemplate using as a protective covering for my wall board the kindof paper Which is now generally used for this purpose in separate sheetsto form the sides of wall board. I prefer to providethe paper in a roll6 from which it is drawn in the form of a strip or Web 7 and folded intoa trough 8 (Fig 4) to re ceive the'body material. The strip may beformed into a trough by any suitable means, such as a presser roller 9and a former 9 through which the strip travels to and through a pouringframe 10. This frame has a plurality of vertically disposed rollers 11.arranged in two parallel series between which the paper trough travelswhile it is receiving from a supply receptacle 12 located above thepouring frame adjacent the former 9" the material for making the body 13of the wall board. The pouring frame is of a'length to maintain thetrough inupright position for a suflicient time after the body materialis poured thereinto for the body material to set to an extent which willpermit the further treatment of the board, The two series of rollers arespaced apart to produce a board of desired thickness and they are ofrelatively small diameter and set comparatively close together to form asufiiciently continuous support on each side of the paper trough tomaintain the trough in'upright position while the body material is beingpoured therein and while the body material is setting sufiicient toenable the board thus formed to be further treated. 35

I contemplate using afoamaceous material for making a cellular body forthe board. The material is'of a pouring consistency and is permitted topour from the receptacle'12- lnto the trough at or about the front end99 of the trough. This material is of a character which will beconverted into foam after it enters the trough and in foaming thematerial is. distributed in a substantially uniform manner in the troughfrom top to bottom thereof to form a'cellular body of uni:- formthickness and substantially uniform celilular structure. As the bodysets it becomes:

progressively self supporting and, if desired,

the space between the rollers may be pro.-

gressively increased to correspond with therogressive setting of thebody. material; but adjacent the pouring front end of'the pouring framethe rollers should be set comparatively close together to support thetrough in proper position with parallel sides and to prevent deformationof the sides.

The board is discharged from the pouring frame and is cut by a suitablecutter 14 into predetermined lengths 15 which pass from the cutter to aguide 16 of suitable construction which turns the length 15 from an upright to a horizontal position for colwcnience in running it through thedryer 17. This dryer maybe of any suitable kind and it is preferablyprovided with a plurality of passes into which the lengths may bedirected by means familiar in the arts to increase the capacity of thedryer since it iscontemplated so that th board will travel through thedryer at a slower rate of speed than the trough will travel through thepouring frame and the board lengths will be cut.

The wall board thus formed will be of a specified width, length andthickness; both sides of the board will have a protective cove of paperand one side edge, the bottom of t e trough, will have a paper covering.But the opposite side edge, the top of the trough, will be raw, that isto say the body will be exposed. A board with the body exposed at oneside edge may be satisfactory for some purposes, but I prefer to protectthis side edge so that it will be as well fin the trough, but I preferthat the strip should project into the trough so that the upper edge ofthe body will be located slightly within the trough and below the upperedges of the sides of the trough leaving a recess.ex

tending longitudinally of the board along the;

edge thereof between the edges of the paper sides of the board. It isthis recess which I fill with a material to rotect the edge of the bodyand the edges of the paper sides of the board. The filling materialmaybe-compo pulp made of paper pulp and a binder or any other materialsuitable for the'pnrpdse. WVhcn the board length leaves the dryer 17(Fig. 3) in a horizontal position it is turned to an upright position bya suitable guide 20 with the raw edge of the board up. Then the boardEpasses under the discharge of. a

receptacle 21 which containsthe paper'pulp: or other filling materialand this material? is; deposited; in. the recess at the upper edge-v ofthe board. A smoother 22 is suppnrtediabove. the board and adjacent thereceptacle to. remove surplus filler and to smooth the filler which isdeposited upon theboard. This mas t-erial will set quickly to form a;-protective covering 23 for'this side edge of the board. I mayprovide-for depositing the filler on the board to form the protectivestrip 23 between the pouring frame and the cutter or between the cutterand the dryer, and the filler may be deposited while the board remainsin the pouring frame, the latter frame being extended if found necessaryor desirable for the purpose, and the receptacle 21 and the smoother 22mounted on or above the pouring frame or adjacent thereto.

My invention provides for the manufacture of a novel wall board which islight in weight having superior insulating quality and capable of beingmade in standard or special sizes. I estimate that wall board made inaccordance with my invention will weigh approximately one-third of theweight of corresponding commercial wall board at present in use, andthis is of special importance f in structural material because itenables wall board to be satisfactorily used in large sizes.

A wall board of large size made in accordance with my invention willhold its shape and permit of handling without distortion or liability ofbeing damaged to an extent and in a manner Which is not possible underordinary conditions with wall board of the kind at present manufactured.This is because it is so much lighter in weight for a given sizethanpresent commercial wall hoard. And its advantages in this respectincrease with the increase in thickness as well as with the increase inarea of the wall board being used. My invention provides a wall board ofsuperior insulating quality because of the cellular character of thebody of the board; and while this cellular body may ap at to be ofdelicate and fragile structure it as sufiicient strength when protectedby a covering of paper or other suitable material, as contemplated by myinvention, to be capable of use for such purposes as wall board may beused and to better advantage and with better results thangwall board ofpresent, manufacture.

' IJl iave not attempted to show any means for drawing the coveringmaterial from the roll 6. or any means for moving the trough and theboard through the pouring frame,

' the dryer and the other parts of the apparatus, or other means, moreor less necessary in connection with the apparatus and the meth- Insteadof sealing and protecting the raw side edge of the board with aprotective covering 23 as shown and described, I may make one side ofthe trough wider than the board to be produced andthen-fold theprojecting margin 24 down upon the raw edge of the board and aflix thismargin to the bodyso that the body will be protected by'the one strip ofcovering upon both sides and both side edges. Anyv adhesive material maybe used for affixing the margin 24 to the body if this adhesive is foundto be necessary or desirable.

I am aware that changes in the method of manufacture, in the form,construction and arrangement of the apparatus, and in the materialsused, and in the structure of the wall board may be made withinreasonable limits without departing from the invention,

it being understood that the disclosure herein is such as I consider tobe well adapted for the manufacture of wall board in accordance with myinvention; and I, reserve the right to make all changes as fairly fallwithin the scope of the following claims.-

I' claim: i

1. A method of manufacturing wall board which consists in forming astrip of covering material into a longitudinally extending trough of thegeneral size and shape of the board to be produced, said trough beingclosed at one longitudinal side edge and open at the other longitudinalside edge and being arranged in-upright position with the open edgeuppermost, and depositing material in the trough to form the body oftheboard.

2. A method of manufacturing wall board which consists in forming astrip of covering material into a longitudinally extending trough of thegeneral size and shape of the board to be produced, said trough beingclosed at one longitudinal side edge and open at the other longitudinalside edge and being arranged in upright position with the open edgeuppermost, and depositing foamaceous material in the trough to form thebody ofthe board.

3. A method of manufacturing wall board which consists in forming astrip of covering material into a longitudinally extending trough of thegeneral size and shape of the board to be produced, said trough beingclosed at one longitudinal side edge and open at the other longitudinalside edge and being arranged in.upright position with the open.

edge uppermost, depositing material in the trough to form the body ofthe board, and

sealing the edge of the board at the open edge of the trough.

4. A method of manufacturing wall board which consists in forming astrip of covering material into a longitudinally extending trough of thegeneral size and shape of the board to be produced, said trough beingclosed at one longitudinal side edge and open at the other longitudinalside edge and being arranged in upright position with the open edgeuppermost, depositing material in the trough to form the body of theboard, and depositing material 'on the body at the open edge of thetrough to form'a protective covv ering at said edge for the body of theboard.

5. A method of manufacturing w'all board which consists in forming astrip of covering material into a longitudinally extending trough of thegeneral size and shape of the board to be produced with the trougharranged in upright position open at the top, and closed at the bottomand pouring foamaceous material into the bottom of the trough throughthe open top of the trough to form the body of the board within thetrough.

6. A method of manufacturing wall board which consists in feeding acontinuous strip of covering material, forming said strip into alongitudinally extending trough, passing said trough as itis formedthrough a pourmg' frame with the trough in upright position open' at thetop and closed at the bottom, and

pouring material into said trough through the open top thereof to formthe body of the board.

7. A method of manufacturing wall board which consists in feeding acontinuous strip of covering material, forming said strip into alongitudinally extending trouglupassing said trough as it is formedthrough a pouring frame with the trough in upright position open at thetop and closed at the bottom, pouring material into said trough throughthe open top thereof to form the body of the board, and cutting saidboard while in upright position into commercial lengths.

8. A method of manufacturing wall board which consists in feeding acontinuous strip of covering material, forming said strip into alongitudinally extending trough, passing said trough as it is formedthrough the pouring frame with the trough in upright position open atthe top and closed at the bottom, pouring material into said troughthrough the open top thereof to form the body of the board, cutting saidboard while in upright position into commercial lengths, and feedingsaid lengths into a dryer and drying the same. 1

9. A method of manufacturing wall board which consists in forming aboard with a body having a covering material-on its sides, one edge ofsaid board exposing the body between the side covering, and depositingsoft compo material upon said' raw edge. of the body to seal the same.

10. A method of-mmmiaxzturing wall board which consistsjn: feedings];continuous strip of covering materialg forming said strip into a trough,passing 'saifi troughv as it is formed through a pouring frame with thetrough in upright position and opem aafi the top, pouring material intosaidf trough through the open top thereof to form the body ofthe board,and sealing thezboard at the top of the trough.

1 v PAYNE.

